flamingos + a special virtual workshop tomorrow night
ESSAY TWELVE: "A CALL FROM INSIDE THE SHELL"
We hear you, little one.
Before you are born, we know your call.
AFTERTHOUGHTS
The sweetest thing I learn about flamingos is how they are as parents. Both partners take turns incubating the eggs--it's very difficult to tell a male and female flamingo apart as they are both pink (from all the shrimp and algae!) with curved black beaks. They can often live with up to 10,000 others in harmony (some colonies reach a million in East Africa), fleeing in the night if a danger presents itself or if the land runs dry of resources.
Flamingos are a pack.
But the American flamingo usually only lives in Central or South America though there are small populations in the Gulf Coast. Above is the closest I came to seeing flamingos when I was in Mississippi and Louisiana a few years ago (I wrote more about the trip for Entropy here). No "vagrant birds," as a rare flamingo sighting in the South is often called. I like the idea of something vibrant being conflated with a derogatory term used to describe someone without a house. Especially a creature so good at building a large, expansive home.
Flamingos also spend a great deal of their day "preening"--otherwise known as grooming--themselves, making sure they are clean and look good. They are known for their dance moves.
What I do remember seeing there is the Friendship Oak on the Southern Miss campus. The tree made it through fierce hurricanes along the Gulf and has been rooted in the same spot since 1487, now reaching over 50 feet tall, providing nearly 16,000 feet of shelter with their branches, trunk, and foliage. The tree is a single community. Whole in itself, but connected by thousands of interactions and lives of other creatures throughout the centuries.
I'll be teaching a special virtual workshop tomorrow night with my friends at Sundress Publications from 6-7:30 PM EST. I'd love to see you there--any level of writer is welcome! It's a donation-based class. Bring a friend! Bring your dog!
Half of the proceeds from this event will go to the Mountain Access Brigade, an abortion doula collective and abortion fund. They provide accurate information about abortion options, non judgmental emotional support, and logistical and financial assistance. They currently fund people getting abortions at the two independent clinics here in East Tennessee. Post-Roe, they plan to fund Tennesseeans leaving the state for care. They serve our clients through a secure phone and text platform, each client getting connected to an abortion doula who assesses their needs and helps make a plan to support them. Find out more about the essential work they do here.
READING LIST: PACK ANIMALS
I've been thinking a lot about communities--the ones I've recently recommitted to, ones I question if I should remain in, and those that have left or are yet to arrive in my life. Been thinking how we co-evolve, how sometimes a community ends because, in essence, the shape has changed or the shapes of their members no longer fit. What I guess I'm asking is what is the difference between a temporary and permanent community or are they all transient? And is community where we find our true belonging despite how essential they are?
These questions are tied to my current read, When We Fell Apart by Soon Wiley. The novel navigates identity, belonging, and what it feels like to not have a clear sense of which community is yours. The story is set in Seoul and switches between the point-of-view of a couple in the aftermath of a mysterious death. I just started a few days ago and am blowing through it. The plot is so well done!
Also, in perfect timing for me writing about these special Gulf Coast-ish creatures, I received a copy of Gulf Coast in the mail. It's a good issue so far. Recommend checking it out here.
Lastly, why not watch Pretty in Pink? I mean...